him upon the throne might be driven disgracefully from his presence; and, upon the same principle, I challenge your Grace to point out a man more likely to be invited to the place of first minister and favourite than the Duke of Rutland. A. B*. LETTER LXII. ATTACK ON JUNIUS BY MESSALA. November 17, 1769. JUNIUS may change his signature, his manner he cannot change. The far-fetched antithesis, the empty period, the pert loquacity, distinguish the writer; and the rancorous and impudent falsehood discovers the man. In vain has he attempted to conceal himself under initials; he is as invariable in the tenor of his diction as he is in the bias of his mind. to It was, however, a mark of some judgment in Mr. use a new signature in your paper of Friday. A. B. may praise the Duke of Rutland, though Junius has infamously traduced the Marquis of Granbyt. By a mean subterfuge, an appearance of propriety may be preserved among the superficial; but the generous and discerning must despise and detest a man who makes the interests of a profligate party the only standard by which he regulates his encomium as well as his abuse. But to set the public right in a matter of fact is the only design of this letter. The insertion of particular persons by mandate, without issuing a new commission of the peace, has been in daily practice; and is an undoubted power lodged in the great seal; but in that alone; nor can any other servant of the crown interfere, no more than in a decree of that great officer, the Chancellor in the Court of Chancery. *The above letter, though avowedly not from the pen of Junius, was reprinted in the Public Advertiser from another journal at his request. It was replied to a few days afterwards by the letter that follows it, to withhold which would be an act of injustice. The Marquis of Granby, eldest son of the Duke of Rutland. The principles of that noble Lord are as well known as those of the remainder of the King's ministers, who, notwithstanding every aspersion to the contrary from factious artifices, have on every occasion proved themselves to be the supporters of the real liberty of the people, and of the true spirit of the constitution. Has the Lord Chancellor in any instance deviated from such a character? And yet if Junius, or his shadow A. B. were right, this noble Lord would be termed a jacobite: for if there is anything improper in the appointment, he is the man who should be charged, and not the Duke of Grafton, on whom calumny endeavours to fix the mistakes of others. Junius, in his zeal for his party, defeats the means he uses to serve them. Unfortunately for his cause, the attacks he makes upon, and his charges against, the Duke of Grafton, require only to be fairly stated to confute themselves; and thus (I will do him the justice to suppose) without design he becomes the panegyrist of a character he wishes to ruin in the eyes of the world. I am, Sir, Your humble servant, LETTER LXIII. X. X. AND MR. ONSLOW. November 17, 1769. I WILL not pretend to say that the inclosed letter is a very severe libel on its right honourable author! And yet, Mr. Woodfall, you may safely print it; for though we have laws against self-murder, there are none against self-libelling. A curious collection of correspondence, both political and amorous, has lately fallen into my hands, with which I shall from time to time furnish you, reserving the most extraordinary of both kinds till the last, pour la bonne bouche. X. X+. * To this letter A. B. gave an answer, but, as it decidedly was not written by Junius, we have omitted it. † Mr. Onslow was at this time persecuting Wilkes with all the acrimony in his power, in unison with the Duke of Grafton, both of whom had a few MY DEAR WILKES, I AM very sorry to have been prevented seeing you to-day; but I hope to have a good account of you by the return of my servant who brings you this: perhaps you may be better if more of your friends besides myself have missed troubling you years before professed the warmest friendship for Wilkes. Mr. Horne, not then at enmity with Wilkes, had just published the following letter of a similar kind, of which Wilkes had given him a copy : To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. SIR, July 14, 1769. MANY of your readers having seen an abuse on Mr. Horne, for the publication of a letter from Mr. Onslow to Mr. Wilkes, are desirous of seeing that original. COPY OF A LETTER FROM GEORGE ONSLOW, ESQ., TO JOHN WILKES, ESQ. "Ember Court, "September 21, 1765. "MY DEAR OLD FRIEND, "HAVING been most shamefully silent to you during the remainder of an opposition which did honour to every man concerned in it, and to the credit of which you so much contributed, I now begin my correspondence with you, at my first entering into office with, and under, an administration whose principles I hope and believe will authorize your giving equal support to in their very different situation. If they did not, as I know they do, revere and hold sacred those sentiments they avowed during the last two years, and in abhorrence those vile and detestable ones of persecution and injustice, by which the public were so injured in your person, I should be ashamed of what I am now proud of, bearing the small share I do among them. Public marks of this, as well as private ones, I hope will soon take place. "Honest Humphrey has dined with me here to-day, and we have just drank your health, as we have often done. Honest as he is, I never felt him more so than your last letter to him, which he has just now showed me, has made him appear to me, in having done justice to my very sincere and constant regards to, and admiration of you. Every word of this letter of yours (dated August 26, from Geneva) I subscribe to, and think and persuade myself the completion of our patriot, not selfish, wishes (for such they are not) will soon appear among many other proofs of integrity, steadiness, and virtue, in the present ministry, and of their being as inimical as ever to those whom they have been opposing, for having acted contrary to all these principles. "Your friend, Mrs. Onslow, has been enjoying with us, in infinite mirth, your last specimens of notes on different parts of great Churchill's works, viz. Hogarth, Talbot, and the scoundrel Bishop. They are specimens indeed of your amazing wit and abilities; and when he has more of them he has promised me a copy. "Believe me, my dear John, your mentioning me as you do gratifies my pride, as it will always do to show myself your friend and humble servant. I was always so as a public and as a private man. Our good friend Humphrey to-day; as I'm sure quiet and keeping down your wonderful flow of spirits must do you good. To most men in your situation such a caution would surely be needless, because men of less greatness of mind, and of a less noble spirit than yourself, would yield to such a load of damnable persecution from the most dangerous administration that ever was in this country. But honest men like yourself know how to despise it and them, and to rise superior to them all. If I had a mind to raise your indignation, I would bid you think of the similarity of these times to those you and I have talked of with abhorrence; but as I mean always to add to your comfort and satisfaction, I will desire you to think of the similarity of your own circumstances to those of the many great and good men that lived in those times, and suffered as you do now. Remember how greatly they were thought of, and how their characters are respected now, and remember, and be assured to your comfort, that let the iron hand of power fall ever so heavy on you (it can't fall very heavy, from your innocence) every honest man, and every gentleman, must bestow the same degree of applause on you as they must of abhorrence and detestation on your and their country's enemies. I will certainly call on you to-morrow morning or evening. I have nothing new to send you. I hope it is not so to you that I am unalterably, Dear Wilkes, Your faithful and affectionate Curzon Street, Monday Night, GEORGE ONSLOW. Mrs. Onslow sends you her comps. I wish you would appoint honest faithful Humphrey to meet me at your house precisely at one o'clock on Wednesday. I have a thousand things to say to him. and I are at this moment in your service, and from us both you shall soon hear, particularly as to the contents of your letter of the 26th. I beg you to believe that I most truly and affectionately am your faithful, humble servant, "GEO. ONSLOW. "P.S. Postpone your judgment till you hear again from me, on what I lament as much as you can do, and think of as you do-Mr. Pitt and Lord Temple's being not in employment." LETTER LXIV. X. X. AND MR. ONSLOW. November 20, 1769. I CANNOT but admire the easy assurance with which that modest gentleman who writes for the Gazetteer informs us that he has gained a complete victory over Junius. It is not the first time that the silence and moderation of Junius have been mistaken for submission, nor is this the first blockhead who has plumed himself upon an imaginary triumph over the favourite of the public.-I wish, however, if he be in the secret, that he would tell us plainly whether the officers of the guards are to be tried or not? If they are not, the observations made by Junius upon the conduct of the ministry return with double force. If they are, Junius is right, and acts honourably in not pushing his inquiries further*. As to the facts, it is unnecessary for him to say anything in support of them. They are so notorious that the parties themselves cannot, dare not deny them. If Captain Garth did not wilfully abandon his guard, why does he not demand a courtmartial to clear his character? And would not the ministry, for their own credit, take care that Captain Dodd should be brought to a trial if they were not absolutely certain that a court-martial must cashier them? Truly, Sir, these gentlemen have a bitter enemy in Modestus †. It appears to me that he has some secret rancour against them, which nothing can satisfy but the loss of their commissions. X. X. LETTER LXV. Y. Y. IN REPLY TO X. X. SIR, November 23, 1769. JUNIUS and his journeymen have engrossed the whole alphabet; but from A. B. to X. X. the style and manner of the * Junius, in Private Letter, No. 11, assigns the following reason for thus declining it: "The only thing that hinders my pushing the subject of my last letter is really the fear of ruining that poor devil Gansel, and those other block heads." + Modestus, as before observed, was a Mr. Dalrymple, a Scotch lawyer. |